As part of the National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, NIU is taking part in the Great Jeans Giveaway.

The donation drive is co-sponsored by the Counseling and Student Development Center, Recreation Services, Health Enhancement Services and the Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences Department.

Darcie Sell, an interning counselor with the Counseling and Student Development Center, said the drive benefits the local charities they give the jeans to but also the students.

“Jeans are traditionally a source of frustration for people trying to find clothes that fit, and we want to emphasize the importance of looking for clothes that fit their ‘genes’ rather than focusing on what they think they should look like,” Sell said.

Around campus in the residence halls, the Recreation Center and the Campus Life Building are boxes marked with “Great Jeans Giveaway” signs where students can deposit their unwanted jeans.

The collection will be continuing for the remainder of the week and some students are open to the idea.

Akta Patel, a sophomore marketing major, said she is willing to donate.

“I think the jeans-donating idea is really good,” Patel said. “I don’t really wear jeans that much since I like to bum around a lot, so I would be willing to donate a lot of my jeans.”

Chad Gericke, a freshman marketing major, thought the drive to be disrespectful but helpful in the end.

“It’s kind of insulting if you think about it, because it kind of singles out people with eating disorders that can’t fit into their jeans anymore, but I guess it’s beneficial in the end to have people donate clothes,” Gericke said.

The Great Jeans Giveaway is one of many events this week that is related to National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.